Daily Media Monitoring Report Issue 14: 19 June 2018

Table of Contents 1.1 Introduction ...... 2 1.2 Key Events ...... 2 1.3 Media Monitored ...... 3 Methodology ...... 3 2.0 Did the media represent political parties in a fair and balanced manner? ...... 3 2.1 Space and time dedicated to political parties in private and public media ...... 4 2.2 Space and time dedicated to political actors in private and public media ...... 5 2.3 Tone of coverage for political parties ...... 6 2.4 Gender representation in election programmes ...... 7 2.5 Youth representation in election programmes ...... 8 2.6 Time dedicated to political players in the different programme types in broadcast media ...... 9 3.0 Conclusion ...... 10

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 1 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. 1.1 Introduction This fourteenth media monitoring report on the 2018 elections highlights trends in the Zimbabwean media’s performance in their coverage of the elections. The study assessed the level to which the media is fair and balanced in representing political players. The report covers issues reported by the media on the twentieth day of the election period – 18 June 2018.

1.2 Key Events On this day;

• ZEC Chairperson says nothing will stop the holding of elections on July 30; she went on to state that the commission is printing free copies of the voters’ roll for all the candidates who successfully filed their nomination papers. • The electoral commission has come under fire from local political parties and political analysts after discovering that the British Embassy had received a searchable version of the voters’ roll while they were told that ZEC was preparing hard copies for them. • In an interview, ZEC’s Acting Chief Elections Officer said, political parties would be invited to observe the printing of ballot papers. In a separate interview ZEC Commissioner, Qhubani Moyo said political parties would be given a chance to test the paper used for printing. In campaign news;

• MDC Alliance’s presidential candidate, says the use of the same party symbol with the break-away MDC T formation led by Thokozani Khupe could confuse the voters particularly in the council and national assembly elections. • Excerpts of Chamisa’s Binga, Victoria Falls and Hwange rallies were broadcast on ZTV. • ZANU PF held a rally in Redcliff meant to drum up support for National Assembly candidate, July Moyo. • ZANU PF chairperson, Simon Khaya Moyo addressed a rally in Gwanda where he urged party supporters to ensure victory for President Mnangagwa. • UANC leader, Nesbert Mutengezanwa says he intends to appeal to ZEC to accept his nomination papers after winning a court case that ruled that he was the party’s legitimate leader. • The MDC T formation led by Thokozani Khupe says it will field 110 national assembly candidates in the upcoming elections. Through its spokesperson, the party said it will launch its campaign in Harare next week. • In a statement, PRC has expressed its disappointment over unfair coverage from both the private and public media.

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 2 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. 1.3 Media Monitored News Platform Print Broadcast (6-10pm) Public media • The Herald • ZTV • Chronicle • SFM • Radio Zimbabwe Commercial radio • Star FM • ZiFM Private media • Daily News • NewsDay

Methodology Monitoring aims to quantify and qualify time dedicated to political parties by the media. The quantitative analysis measures the total amount of space (cm2) and time (seconds) devoted to politicians and political parties by the media. The analysis also evaluates representations of political actors by gender and age as well as the type of programmes in which they are featured.

For print media, the monitored sample includes articles published in the following sections: front page, local news, and political/election news. Monitoring also focuses on editorial pages and letters to the editor sections. Monitoring does not include articles published in the business section, sport pages, and entertainment sections Television and radio channels have been monitored daily during a select time frame, from 6 to 10 pm. All programs have been analyzed during the sampled time period.

2.0 Did the media represent political parties in a fair and balanced manner? There remains a great challenge in the plurality of political parties covered by the local media. Only 16 political parties were covered on this particular day of monitoring. These parties do not fairly represent the dynamics of Zimbabwe’s political landscape. Despite the lack of political pluralism, Media Monitors observed a decline in the space and time allocated to ZANU PF (49%) and MDC Alliance (18%). The two parties combined for 67% of the coverage whilst the remaining 14 political parties shared 33% of the total coverage. Allocation of more coverage to the less known political parties and actors would improve the diversity of the media’s coverage of political parties.

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 3 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context.

2.1 Space and time dedicated to political parties in private and public media In the state-owned press, ten political parties were covered in total. ZANU PF received 67% of the coverage whilst MDC Alliance featured in 28%. The remaining eight parties combined for 5% of the space allocated to political actors. Space allocated to political actors in the government-controlled press in (cm2)

Political National Local Member of Party Affiliation Government Government Parliament Member Total ZANUPF 464 0 98 1487 2049 MDC 0 0 0 855 855 ALLIANCE CODE 0 0 0 65 65 APA 0 0 0 45 45 MPR 0 0 0 25 25 PRC 0 0 0 17 17 INDEPENDENT 0 0 0 14 14 MDC-T 0 0 0 9 9 NPF 0 0 0 1 1 ZIPP 0 0 0 1 1

The privately-owned newspapers covered ten political parties. MDC Alliance received the most coverage. The party accounted for 42% of the coverage, ahead of ZANU PF’s 38% and the MDC T led by Thokozani Khupe, which occupied 9% of the space. The other seven political parties combined for 11% of the coverage. Space allocated to political actors in the private press (in cm2)

Political National Local Member of Party Total Affiliation Government Government Parliament Member MDC 0 96 108 1355 1559 ALLIANCE ZANU PF 161 0 21 1224 1406 MDC-T 0 0 0 346 346 PRC 0 0 0 152 152 UANC 0 0 0 129 129 INDEPENDENT 0 0 0 76 76 NCA 0 0 0 49 49 UDM 0 0 0 25 25 ZAPU 0 0 0 5 5 APA 0 0 0 4 4

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 4 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. ZBC stations featured three political parties during prime time. ZANU PF accounted for 88% of the coverage whilst MDC Alliance made up 7% and MDC T (TK) was covered in the remaining 5%. Time dedicated to political parties on ZBC (in seconds)

Political National Local Member of Party Total Affiliation Government Government Parliament Member ZANU PF 710 0 300 446 1456 MDC 0 0 0 116 116 ALLIANCE MDC T (TK) 0 0 0 83 83

The commercial radio stations monitored gave coverage to five political parties. Independent political actors received 45% of the coverage whilst MDC T (TK) was covered in 32% of the time dedicated to political parties. The other parties featured in 23% of the coverage. Time dedicated to political parties on commercial radio (in seconds)

Political National Local Member of Party Total Affiliation Government Government Parliament member INDEPENDENT 0 546 1181 0 1 727 MDC-T (TK) 0 0 1213 1 1214 POVO 0 749 0 0 749 MDC ALLIANCE 0 72 0 21 93 ZANU PF 58 0 1 20 79

2.2 Space and time dedicated to political actors in private and public media On the day of monitoring, 33 political actors were covered in the broadcast media whilst 69 politicians were featured in the press. The top ten actors in the press and electronic media are presented in the tables below Top political actors in the press

Actor Political Party Total Space in cm2 ZANUPF 850 Nelson Chamisa MDC ALLIANCE 508 Obert Gutu MDC-T (TK) 412 ZANUPF 190 July Moyo ZANUPF 181 ZANUPF 181 Lynette Karenyi MDC ALLIANCE 168 Nkululeko Sibanda MDC ALLIANCE 152 Auxilia Mnangagwa ZANUPF 150 Thokozani Khupe MDC-T (TK) 132

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 5 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. Top political actors in the electronic media

Actor Political Party Total time in seconds Linda Masarira MDC-T (TK) 1213 Henry Munangatire POVO 749 Fungai Chiposi INDEPENDENT 653 Debbie Peters INDEPENDENT 546 Agatha Chiseya INDEPENDENT 526 Emmerson Mnangagwa ZANUPF 455 Dexter Nduna ZANUPF 300 Oppah Muchinguri ZANUPF 136 Nelson Chamisa MDC ALLIANCE 120 Owen Ncube ZANUPF 109

2.3 Tone of coverage for political parties

Coverage of political parties in the state-owned press was mostly neutral even though there was negative coverage of MDC Alliance and positive coverage of ZANU PF. Tone of coverage in the government controlled press (in cm2)

Political Negative Neutral Positive Affiliation ZANUPF 177 1123 749 MDC ALLIANCE 519 266 70 CODE 65 0 0 APA 0 45 0 MPR 0 25 0 PRC 0 17 0 INDEPENDENT 6 8 0 MDC-T 0 9 0 NPF 1 0 0 ZIPP 0 1 0

Most of the parties covered by the privately-owned press received neutral coverage. There was however more negative coverage for MDC Alliance and ZANU PF. The two parties also received most of the positive coverage together with MDC T (TK).

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 6 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. Tone of coverage in the private press (in cm2)

Political Negative Neutral Positive Affiliation APA 0 4 0 INDEPENDENT 0 76 0 MDC ALLIANCE 368 976 215 MDC-T (TK) 5 83 258 PRC 0 152 0 UANC 40 89 0 UDM 0 25 0 ZANU PF 352 810 244 ZAPU 0 5 0

On ZBC, there were three political parties covered, of these the tone was mostly neutral for MDC Alliance and MDC T (TK). ZANU PF received coverage that was predominantly neutral even though it also received negative coverage. ZBC tone of coverage (in seconds)

Political Negative Neutral Positive Affiliation MDC ALLIANCE 1 115 0 MDC T (TK) 0 83 0 ZANU PF 300 1156 0

Commercial radio stations gave coverage to five parties. The coverage was mostly positive for MDCT (TK), Independent politicians and POVO. There was a mixture of neutral and negative coverage for ZANU PF and MDC Alliance. Commercial radio stations’ tone of coverage (in seconds)

Political Negative Neutral Positive Affiliation ZANU PF 21 58 0 MDC 18 72 3 ALLIANCE MDC T 1 0 1213 INDEPENDENT 2 0 1725 POVO 0 0 749

2.4 Gender representation in election programmes

Even though women continue to be underrepresented in the news media, their visibility experienced a 22% increase from the 7% recorded on the last The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 7 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. day of monitoring (18 June). Women actors were visible in 29% of the time and space allocated to political actors. Men however featured in 71% of the coverage. Women’s visibility was boosted by their mileage on commercial radio stations, where they were allocated 60% of the prime-time coverage of political actors. Gender representation in both the private and public media

2.5 Youth representation in election programmes

Youth political actors continue to be marginalised in both the print and electronic media monitored. In the press, youth made up less than 1% of the sources. Only Fadzayi Mahere (32) was covered, she was quoted as a source, confirming that she had received an electronic copy of the voters roll from ZEC. In the electronic media, youths were not visible at all. On the day, political actors in the over-sixty age group were the most visible. Representation of youths in the press

*Statistics included were for political players whose data was available

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 8 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. 2.6 Time dedicated to political players in the different programme types in broadcast media

On this day, political actors were more visible in current affairs programming than in the news. Overall time dedicated to political players in the different programming types (in seconds)

On ZBC (radio and TV) political actors were covered more in the news than in current affairs programming. Chegutu West Member of Parliament, Dexter Nduna, was featured on ZTV’s Liquid Soil urging Chegutu City Council to improve service delivery so that people get value for money when they pay their bills. Total time dedicated to political actors on ZBC (in seconds)

On commercial radio, there was more coverage of political actors in current affairs programming. Star FM carried three current affairs programmes;

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 9 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. Ruvheneko, Spotlight and Panenyaya which featured politicians from MDC Alliance, MDC T (TK), POVO, ZANU PF and those who were independent. Most of the time was dedicated to women political actors who included Agatha Chiseya - Independent, Debbie Peters – Independent and Linda Masarira – MDC T (TK). Total time dedicated to political actors on commercial radio (in seconds)

3.0 Conclusion

On the twentieth day of the electoral period, there continues to be a challenge with the plurality of political parties and actors covered by the print and electronic media. This therefore means that the public remains uninformed about the activities of the other political actors contesting in the upcoming elections. There has however been a decline in the share of space and time allocated to the two main parties (ZANU PF and MDC Alliance), which is a positive sign as it creates more room for other political parties covered by the media. It is critical for the media to increase coverage of the less known parties so that the electorate can interrogate their policies and make informed decisions when they go to vote on July 30.

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 10 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context. APPENDIX 1 List of Political Parties

• #1980 Freedom Movement Zimbabwe • Alliance for People’s Agenda - APA • Alliance for National Salvation Party • Bethel Christian Party –BCP • Coalition of Democrats - CODE • Democratic Opposition Party –DOP • Forces of The Liberation Organization of African National Party –FLOANP • FreeZim Congress • Ideal Zimbabwe - IZ • Mavambo Kusile Dawn- MKD • MDC Alliance • Movement for Democratic Change -Tsvangirai led by Nelson Chamisa (MDC-T (NC) • Movement for Democratic Change -Tsvangirai led by Thokozani Khupe – MDC-T (TK) • National Alliance of Patriotic and Democratic Republicans - NAPDR • National Constitution Assembly –NCA • New Patriotic Front • National Patriotic Front –NPF • National People’s Party - NPP • People’s Democratic Party –PDP • Progressive and Innovative Party of Zimbabwe • People’s Own Voice – POVO • People’s Progressive Party - PPP • People’s Rainbow Coalition – PRC • Rebuild Zimbabwe -RZ • Transform Zimbabwe –TZ • True Democracy –TD • United Democratic Alliance • United Democratic Front -UDF • United Democratic Movement • United National African Council –UANC • Word of Yahwe Express - WOYE • Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front - ZANU PF • Zimbabwe African National Union NDONGA - ZANU Ndonga • Zimbabwe African Peoples Union –ZAPU • Zimbabwe Partnership for Prosperity (ZIPP) • Zimbabwe People First –ZPF

About us: Media Monitors is an independent Trust registered under the laws of Zimbabwe. The organisation has a 18-year track record of monitoring the media, existing between 2000 and 2016 as the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and re-branded to Media Monitors in 2017. The organisation monitors the media to promote evidence-based interventions for societal development. For more information contact us on 08677108362 or email us on mailto:[email protected].

The media have an ethical obligation to be impartial in their coverage of electoral 11 processes; this requires fairness and balance in their representation of the prevailing context.